How much is a personís life worth? How about an entire crew? That is what Peter Ludvigsen, the head of acompany whose ship has just been hijacked by Somali pirates, must determine in the Danish film A Hijacking. Directed and written by Tobias Lindholm, this film has won many awards in film festivals around the world, and for good reason. This film will draw you in, get you to genuinely care about the characters, and keep you tense through the entire ordeal.

One of those characters, Mikkel (Pilou Asbaek), the cook on board the ship, is theonly person on the crew who is allowed to have any contact with the outsideworld, though primarily to help hurry the negotiation of how much the companywill pay to get the crew and ship out of the Somali piratesí hands.

Much of the action is purposefully left off screen, keepingthe audience on edge during this tense thriller. It is not an action film; we do not even getto see the hijacking take place. Instead, it is a psychological roller coaster ride as the audiencebecomes attached to characters that may not make it out alive.

It is painful towatch both Mikkel, who has to suffer through the experience of being heldcaptive for months on end, and Ludvigsen, who becomes emotionally involved inthe situation despite being warned that that is the worst thing he could do, makethe difficult decision of when to say no and when to say yes to a group ofviolent men who hold the lives of his crew in their hands. It is an emotional journey that leaves theaudience to wonder what they might do if they were in either of the meníspositions.

How much is a personís life worth, and who gets to determinethat? This film asks the question in avariety of ways, but ultimately it is left unanswered.

How much is a personís life worth? How about an entire crew? That is what Peter Ludvigsen, the head of a
company whose ship has just been hijacked by Somali pirates, must determine in the Danish film A Hijacking. Directed and written by Tobias Lindholm, this film has won many awards in film festivals around the world, and for good reason. This film will draw you in, get you to genuinely care about the characters, and keep you tense through the entire ordeal.

One of those characters, Mikkel (Pilou Asbaek), the cook on board the ship, is the
only person on the crew who is allowed to have any contact with the outside
world, though primarily to help hurry the negotiation of how much the company
will pay to get the crew and ship out of the Somali piratesí hands.

Much of the action is purposefully left off screen, keeping
the audience on edge during this tense thriller. It is not an action film; we do not even get
to see the hijacking take place.
Instead, it is a psychological roller coaster ride as the audience
becomes attached to characters that may not make it out alive.

It is painful to
watch both Mikkel, who has to suffer through the experience of being held
captive for months on end, and Ludvigsen, who becomes emotionally involved in
the situation despite being warned that that is the worst thing he could do, make
the difficult decision of when to say no and when to say yes to a group of
violent men who hold the lives of his crew in their hands. It is an emotional journey that leaves the
audience to wonder what they might do if they were in either of the menís
positions.
How much is a personís life worth, and who gets to determine
that? This film asks the question in a
variety of ways, but ultimately it is left unanswered.